[jbloudg20]

Very nice, Jay! I'm happy for you.

 

[derekbmn]

WOW !!! That thing is MASSIVE !!! (all guys like to hear that phrase directed at them)

But seriously very nice and I bet your enjoying the heck out of it. I imagine you had a hard time sleeping last night . I know I would.

 

[philodox]

Jay - Thanks man

Quote:

Originally Posted by derekbmn I imagine you had a hard time sleeping last night. I know I would.

hehe... Well, I think that is pretty apparent from my last posting time yesterday and my first post today.

 

[shigzeo]

i don't know how you do it mate, but... is that new??? anyway, i tried lifting the left end of that thing and one arm was too little. a bit forward sounding, is it the headphones? but loved it... nice 10 minutes of sitting and listening though the bloody room is loud. thanks for the pics

 

[SonicDawg]

Holy mother of... You must be a happy man, Philadox

 

[markl]

Philodox, what is that funky CD player?

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo i don't know how you do it mate, but... is that new???

LOL... don't start with that again big brother.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo anyway, i tried lifting the left end of that thing and one arm was too little.

It is a beast... the CD player is not light either though. Quote:

Originally Posted by shigzeo a bit forward sounding, is it the headphones? but loved it...

Glad you liked it. As for the forward sound, it is hard to say. Most of the times I have heard the K340's balanced and driven with authority they do have a forward slant to them... but normally, I would not describe them in that way.

Still, I don't mind that, and it doesn't seem to be affecting the soundstaging and imaging. I know I said I wanted to wait a bit before impressions, but I've got to say that I am hearing some seriously crazy spatial effects here. It's like all my albums have become binaural recordings. A 2000000% improvement as Patrick82 would say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicDawg Holy mother of... You must be a happy man, Philodox

You could say that, yes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl Philodox, what is that funky CD player?

Hey Mark,

That is my Eastsound CD-E5 Signature Edition. Steve [swt61] did up that nice wooden faceplate and gold leaf lettering for me.

It is completely stock otherwise, though Peter sold me some nice polyprop film caps as well that I will be using to do a simple capacitive output straight from the DAC chip. Eventually I hope to get a ZapFilter mkII output stage, but they are impossible to find right now. The single ended output stage on this CD player is discreet, but the balanced output stage uses an OPAMP based phase inversion circuit after the unbalanced stage and we can't have that, now can we.

 

[swt61]

Without going into too much detail about the sound yet, can you tell us more about the power this amp has, and if you're sufficiently sattisfied that you're driving the 340's to the point you desired?

 

[Voltron]

Like I said somewhere else last night, MASSIVE CONGRATS on getting the goods! That is the Mother of All Balanced Amps -- damn, I should have thought of that one for the naming thread!!!

Like Steve said, I sure am curious what you think of the amp in your first few hours with her. So give!

 

[dsavitsk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox The 4 tubes at the front are 6H30's, though Peter says that he may want to try a different tube in place of them at some point..

If you are looking for other tubes, take a look at the 6N6p. It is essentially the same tube as the 6H30. Some people like one a little better, some like the other, but because they were never used by BAT (or anyone else really), they can be found for cheap -- like $1 per tube new.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Jay, has a night of burn-in opened the low-end up at all?

Folks, I had a chance to hear that beast last night (and Jay's K340s, finally) and I have to say that it was... just... bloody marvelous. Loud room and short impressions aside, it just sounded incredible! The only thing left to be desired was a little more "oomph" in the very lowest frequencies (I auditioned it with the first 4 tracks off of ELP's Trilogy and some of the deeper organ passages left a little to be desired), but the amp had only been delivered at 11:50 THAT DAY, so it was crispy new.

Oh, and I have never heard bongos sound so real and lively.

 

[velogreg]

Philodox- If possible can you provide hourly updates on the sound? After all it is the least you can do for making us wait so long. I mean really, come on you owe us. I have already opened a trust fund account for the next one so I need some reinforcement.

 

[philodox]

Sorry everyone, but I had to go to my Dad's today for a birthday dinner... I just got in and will be listening shortly. You can expect some basic impressions tonight I think.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I almost got to hear this sucker tonight but there were scheduling conflicts. I need to listen to it with some

.

Biggie.

 

[philodox]

Listening to Elliott Smith at the moment and it sounds great with acoustic music.

Earlier I listened to the following CD's:
Norah Jones - come away with me
The Legend of Johnny Cash
Antibalas - Talkatif
Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control

Norah Jones is a mixed bag as most of the album is recorded quite well and sounds fantastic. I think I was a little hyper aware since it was the first disc I threw on, but the flaws did seem to jump out at me more than what I am used to. I'm sure that if I was a bit more relaxed and just enjoyed the record it would be less jarring. There were no huge surprises in this album, except for the detail in her voice. I hate to copy aerius, as this is one of his favourite observations, but you could really hear all the little wet mouth movements she makes. Felt like she was in the room with me.

I put on Johnny Cash to see how it would handle older recordings as they tend to be less hot and in the past sounded pretty unexciting with my K340's regardless of the amp. This was perhaps my best surprise. I had only intended to listen to one track, but found myself listening to the whole album and tapping my foot the whole time. Emily had to shut me up a couple times as apparently my Johnny Cash impersonation is not the greatest. When 'Jackson' came on I freaked out a bit, as my eyes were closed at this point and I could swear someone had just transported my chair onto the stage with them. I love June Carter in that song.

Antibalas was very nice, though the jury is out on how it handled all the horned instruments. I'm not sure if what I am hearing is more accurate or is distorted in some way. As far as instrument seperation and imaging, that was top notch... and with something like Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra you really need it.

My Wife, Emily, is a huge Gossip fan. I've seen them live with her a few times and they are some of the best shows I've been to. Beth is an amazing performer and has an incredible voice. Their albums tend to be sub par or average quality recordings, but the energy is still there and they can be a fun listen. I would have expected a more powerfull and resolving amp to make these qualities worse, but it was very listenable. The dynamics and punch are really there in a way that I've yet to hear with the K340's... I hesitate to compare them to Grado's, but I think we're a lot closer.

Last night I listened longer than I probably should have and got to sleep around 5am. I heard some Massive Attack, Nightmares on Wax, Asian Dub Foundation, Zero 7, Thievery Corporation, Talking Heads and the Daddy G DJ Kicks album. This amp definately lives up to its name, as it is a great match with downtempo. I've never heard Zero 7 sound this good... and that includes the SDS-XLR [tube rolled for the R10's in its defense]. I'm really liking it a lot with old 'rock' music. After listening to Talking Heads I really wanted to hear some David Bowie, but couldn't find it. May have to go hunting for that again shortly.

I'm about half way through XO at the moment and am having a hard time choosing whether I prefer acoustic or electronic music with this beast.

I suppose it is a choice that doesn't really need to be made.

Sorry for the overly positive glowing comments, but I really can't find much to complain about with this amp. It could perhaps use a bit more bass extension, but that should be remedied rather easily by raising the capacitance on the output I would think.

It is a little stinky still... how long should it take for the amp to stop putting out this mild burning rubber smell? I'm told it is common with new tube amps, but have no idea how long it lasts.

Time to listen to Iron & Wine.